Police shoot man who opens fire by Stockton school

Thursday

Jul 11, 2013 at 12:01 AMJul 11, 2013 at 3:34 PM

STOCKTON - Police got into a shootout with a group of people who opened fire on officers with an assault rifle Wednesday at a southwest Stockton elementary school, wounding one person before apprehending three others, authorities said.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - Police got into a shootout with a group of people who opened fire on officers with an assault rifle Wednesday at a southwest Stockton elementary school, wounding one person before apprehending three others, authorities said.

Members of the Stockton Police Department's Community Response Team and the multiagency San Joaquin County gang task force attempted to make a traffic stop shortly before 6:20 p.m. near August Knodt Elementary School in the 3900 block of EWS Woods Boulevard. Four occupants of a Nissan Altima bailed out of the car and fled on foot, authorities said.

Officers pursued the men onto the campus, where at least one of them opened fire with an assault rifle, said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Police Department.

A woman who witnessed the shooting said she saw a black man in his late teens reach into a backpack, pull out a gun and shoot at police. An officer returned fire, hitting the gunman, the woman said.

"The boy opened a backpack and started shooting at the cops, and the cop shot back," the woman said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety. "The boy definitely shot first."

Dale Maier, a 33-year-old resident of the Weston Ranch neighborhood where the shootout occurred, said he heard as many as 40 shots fired, the first burst from an assault rifle and the second burst from a pistol. Maier said he could see the officer returning fire.

"He got into his firing stance, and he unloaded his clip on somebody," Maier said. "He fired at least 10 shots."

It took medics about 15 minutes to reach the wounded man, because the scene had not been secured and police believed there was another man still on the loose. Medics wheeled the man out on a stretcher, placed him into an ambulance parked in front of the school and took him to a hospital. Authorities did not disclose the man's condition Wednesday night.

Two other men were taken into custody almost immediately after the shooting occurred, police said. Another man was found on a rooftop at the school a short time later. A SWAT team staged nearby and took the man into custody about 8:20 p.m., about two hours after the standoff began.

No officers were injured in the gunbattle, Silva said.

Authorities later found the assault rifle, a handgun and evidence of an exchange of gunfire, Silva said. Silva said authorities have launched a multiagency protocol investigation to review the shooting.

Hundreds of residents gathered at a park next to the school and along surrounding streets to watch the police activity in their neighborhood. Some expressed their dismay, saying gunfire is a common occurrence in the area.

"It's really scary to know your kids can't be free," said Staci Coleman, 40. "I had to stop my daughter from going to the park. When we were kids, it was fun to go to the park. We didn't have to worry about shootings, and it's sad that our kids do."